Now that we’ve officially entered spooky season, our crafts this month will feature all your favorite Halloween symbols. This week, we’ll create a classic haunted house silhouette using common household supplies.
Your kids can design their own haunted mansion, complete with bats, ghosts, crooked windows, and creepy trees! It’s a great way to explore symmetry, spatial planning, and seasonal flair while encouraging storytelling elements about who lives in the house and what spooky sounds echo inside.
Why It’s Perfect for Late Elementary Students
- Creative Independence: Kids ages 8–11 can brainstorm and execute their own haunted house designs with minimal guidance.
- Skill Building: Cutting detailed shapes, layering textures, and gluing elements builds fine motor control and spatial awareness.
- Storytelling & Imagination: This age group thrives on narrative play—this craft invites them to invent characters and spooky scenes.
- Personalization: Each haunted house can reflect the child’s unique style, from silly to spine-chilling.
Let The Crafting Begin!
Supplies
- 1 paper plate (white or black)
- Black construction paper
- Colored construction paper (orange, purple, green, gray)
- Scissors
- Glue stick or tacky glue
- White gel pen or silver marker
- Googly eyes
- Cotton balls (for fog or ghosts)
- Optional: glow-in-the-dark stickers or paint, glitter, mini pom-poms
️Directions
- Prep the Base Flip the paper plate upside down to use the flat side as your haunted house background.
- Create the House Silhouette Cut a haunted house shape from black construction paper. Include towers, crooked windows, and a jagged roof to add extra style to your house. Glue it to the center of the plate.
- Add Windows & Doors Cut small rectangles and squares from colored paper for windows and doors. Use the white gel pen to draw cracks, curtains, or glowing eyes peeking out.
- Decorate the Scene
- Cut out bats, ghosts, pumpkins, and trees from construction paper.
- Glue cotton balls for fog or ghost bodies.
- Add googly eyes to windows or bushes for a silly scare.
- Optional Glow Effects Use glow-in-the-dark paint or stickers to highlight windows, moon, or ghost shapes.
- Final Touches Add glitter for a magical shimmer or mini pom-poms as spooky bushes or monster heads.
- Display Punch a hole at the top and add string to hang it on a door or wall, or prop it up on a shelf as part of your Halloween decor!
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